Grew up living in the old flats that where on moore lane in the 70’s,crazy as it sounds we use to play round there,miley tunnel was the challenge to show how brave us was,walking on your own no torch,at night,still remember it like yesterday walking the tracks to make sure you was going kinda straight,you knew when you wasn’t as you stubbed your toe on the tracks lol,all the time waiting for the blue lady to appear, fun times
Wonderful video Martin. I am Preston born and bred and as a kid you hadn't lived until you had done the Miley. My last jaunt through was in 1990 but had to make a quick exit because a coal train chased us out.. I will never forget seeing the Headcorn lights of the Class 37 and running like he'll to the safety of the embankment on Cold bath street.
When you work with Stone as I do you appreciate the skill & the craftsmanship of the men who crafted & built the magnificent Bridges & tunnels on both the railways & canals of Briton.Thank you Martin for a great video.
Great work. I spent 3 years in Preston in the mid 90’s and must have walked over the top of the tunnel entrance on Fylde road 100’s of times without once bothering to take a look over the bridge. Amazing that these feats of engineering from an era when the North West of England literally was the epicenter of the industrial revolution lay forgotten and rotting away. I applaud your efforts and enthusiasm for reminding us about them in such an engaging way.
Martin zero should become the next Fred dibnah with his own documentry all tho Thier subjects are different the way they go into such detail is exceptional ..... Well done Martin pal
Ha agreed....... he has a certain kind of character that just captures you. Just the love the honesty of his vids, not only that, a decent chap too! ;)
Not to decry what Martin does, which is excellent. Fred Dibnah walked the walk. The videos of Fred were created about what he created, not what he observed.
@@garyhardman8369 Really? What did Fred Dibnah create? I thought he was a steeplejack with an interest in old mechanical engineering. Bit of a demolition boffin too wasn't he? I'm led to understand he repaired some stuff but certainly didn't create anything. Perhaps I'm wrong..?
@@sputumtube Fred did build 2 steam engines and a tiny mine shaft in his back yard but my comment was ment on his ability to grip an audience just like Martin but I agree with you in what your saying he was mainly a steeply that became famous due to his technique he used to fall the chimneys
Neil - New York - grew up on Great Hanover Street - spent time wandering around the line. Loved the video, brought back lots of memories. Thanks Martin.
This is first rate work. Old railway lines and their infrastructure constitute one of the most fascinating aspects of industrial archaeology. Please keep us enthralled and entertained with these marvelous documentaries that remind us of another age when Britain was truly great.
Sir, you make such good video's that are so historically accurate and well documented that they could/should be used to teach kids in school about the history of where they live. Outstanding job Martin.
Great to be back and in the groove of your wonderful videos ! I've been on the move for the last few months , so , I have some good viewing to catch up on ! thank you Martin for making it so worthwhile !!xx
I really enjoyed that video , thankyou Martin and your two pals. When you have people who really have a passion for what they enjoy ,they pass on their knowledge in an understanding and enjoyable way ,.Well done guys and keepup the good work , thanks again
On recent O/S Maps the Preston Longridge is shown as Railway (Disused) meaning the line still has tracks which your excellent video proves forty yrs after closure.
I remember as a lad with a few mates going through the Miley Tunnel sometime in the late 60's, as we walked through with a pathetic old torch, some of the lads were saying what happens if a train comes, I said "don't worry it is not used any more", needles to say we heard a noise and sure enough a train was coming very slowly behind us, we ran out terrified ahead of the train, luckily were not that far from the end, when we got out at the end closely followed by the train the driver was leaning out of his window playing holy hell at us to probably put us off going in again, he needn't have worried we were terrified enough already not to try again, another interesting fact is that the fire brigade still use the tunnel for training near Cold bath street, they practice lifting stretchers up out of the cutting part that you showed.
Fabulous video so much interesting detail and you guys really make it superb watching from the comforts of our homes whilst you get scratched by brambles and creeped out by the grey old lady tunnel ghost👍😉👍😉👍😉
very good video enjoyed this martin thank you mate you are a natural speaker and it works so well just discovered your vids here on you tube I shall now watch the lot good one mate PS....COOL SURNAME
Still catching up. Hello Martin and thank you for your intrepid rediscoveries, surely this would make a great walkway or cycle path if cleared, at least then the architecture would be visible, accessible and not lost to the ever increasing sub tropical change in our climate. We could even plant exotic fauna along the sides.
Well done as always. It's interesting just how much of our current rail network was built in the victorian times. It's equally interesting to get the chance to explore the sections that have become disused. I don't blame you for putting it off until the foliage has died off. In summer that would have been 10 times worse.
Massive potential and what a gem, the tunnel is in very good repair, I cannot believe the rails are still in place, it is substantial, wide and too valuable to be just abandoned. If this was south of Cheltenham it would have been exploited already!
Hi Martin you keep finding em and keep em coming. Find this Victorian railway engineering fascinating they certainly built things to last back then and with such pride in their work always a plate stating where and when it was built or manufactured. If only we took the same pride in our work today.
This is so cool. When I was a kid growing up in Preston in the 80s my friends and I used to dare each other to go through Miley Railway Tunnel on our own with no light or anything. Of course none of us ever did haha. Probably down to urban legends circulating at the time about dismembered bodies and the bogeyman. Good times. Thanks for the video very interesting.
I love railway history like this that was amazing i hope that infrastructure gets a new lease of life thats PRICELESS railway infrastructure there it still exists and is in place it should be used again for what it was intended for! Amazing video!
I'm glad you walked this line Martin. There aren't many left with the track down and it can only be a matter of time until it is all swept away and redeveloped. The best 'find' on this video is 'Dallam forge' cast plate on the bridge. brilliant!
Great upload lads, thanks for taking the interest and sharing. As a kid I remember being in the signal box at Skeffington Road crossing and watching a class 40 pass on a coal working to Courtaulds Red Scar works...
No matter where we go in the world train history is so cool, but in your country there is so much more as it was England that started everything train related, AWESOME 😎
I live in Lorraine in France and, after watching this, I want to do videos of 2 abandoned sections of canal and a railway line near where I live. The railway line has an incredible story as it changed hands between France and Germany during the 1880s and 1918 and gave rise to a new town. I've been a railway enthusiast for over 50 years and I love exploring old lines. I hope to see more of your videos.
Absolutely fantastic video Martin. Once again the choice of music and the historical narration makes your films a joy to watch. I always feel like i have learned something new. A wonderful bit of editing completes the video. So love to watch your videos. Thank you once again Martin.
Interesting video and content exploring the Miley tunnel. Perhaps also of interest are some additional snippets. first, this part of the line continued in use well into the 1950s to supply coal daily to yards located nearby bottom end of Deepdale Road, in Fletcher Road. This was achieved using a spur line nearby Skeffington Road. Next, the lower platform part of Deepdale Station shown as demolished ruins in the video was still in place in the 1950s, indeed with steps down, although correctly described as long disused. However, the main station building up top remains and is the stand alone solicitor's office by side of the bridge. Finally, the Miley Tunnel ghost sort of morphed into a New York Times best selling novel called "Cold Bath Street" by A J Hartley, sometime lecturer at nearby UCLAN. Cold Bath Street remains nearby, once site of cleaning up for the construction workers.
Thanks for another interesting video. Coal trains were still running through Miley tunnel to the Household Coal depot at Deepdale until the mid 1990's.
Fantastic Martin, you serve me prowd once again. Fascinating little stretch of railway, like i commented in Nodrod's video, it would be great if this alignment could be brought back into use. The tunnel was fascinating with that concrete ceiling placed over the original cutting between the 2 sections. I can only imagine how much weight is bearing down on those beams.
Nice one Martin (and Gordon). Good to see you exploring my neck of woods just around the corner from where I lived as a kid. I remember the old station building on Deepdale Road well, and the entrance was used as a greengrocers shop back then in the 1950's (which one of your photos shows I think). I had a mate who lived on Castleton road, and his backyard was almost opposite the station platform and overlooked it. We used to watch steam trains go past from there on their way to Courtaulds (or to the coal sidings which were on Fletcher Road). The end of the canal terminated after it passed under Marsh Lane (the iron railings of the bridge are still visible I think). I remember looking down on the canal as a kid and seeing the railway lines running beside it, but it was already looking dilapidated at that point. You'll perhaps know that there used to be a tramway linking the end of the Lancaster canal, to the Walton Summit branch of the Leeds and Liverpool canal. This was a cheaper option than joining the two canals as was originally planned. Keep up the good work!
That's why it's called Tram Bridge in Avenham Park. There used to be a steam engine at the park end to move the trams through what we used to call Bluebell Wood on the other side of the river.
Great video as always! I briefly lived in a student house in 1990, that backed onto that line near the tunnel entrance on the Deepdale end of the tunnel. I'm sure I remember hearing big diesels come thundering down that line every so often.
well that was fantastic thank you all so much we loved it and thanks the the grey lady it looks like a fun time out for you all cheers from trev and christine down south x
Hi Martin Gordon form Preston. And not your fellow exploring Gordon. You was correct in thinking it closed in mid eighties, because I was stood on the platform of one of the stations as a little boy watching them load up platform stones and rails as the took them up, a class 25, I live fight next to one station that still remains, and if you are free at somepoint would love to invite you for a very detailed tour of the eastern direction of the line. I've lived there since 1975. And so lhe line open and working, you was also correct, there was steps down to Deepdale station that served Preston royal infirmary, and before miley tunel used to be a big coal yard with multiple sideing with over head hopper sheds. If you up for a part two. Let me know, fantastic video, so close to home, great job once again, thanks pal 👍
It seems that lines that closed in the 80s/90s didn't have the rails taken up. in the 60s, it was done on purpose to make reopening in the future more difficult because the corrupt transport minister at the time had a road building company.
Dear Martin, you never fail to impress, educate and entertain! You make Sundays so special! Dont be afraid, your charming enough that the lady wont bother you :) Thank you Martin as always. Love from Peru
Thank you for another adventure I love old train tunnels like that see over here we don't have the pleasure of having them they barium soon as they're done with them the clap some down it's good to see that they still keep this love you videos keep mop I'll keep watching
Before I was thrown out of Preston Poly, a friend and I used to conduct guided walks through the Miley Tunnel. Fascinating to find out how that central box came about. On walks after dark, we would turn our torches off at this point and experienced absolute darkness. It wasn't overgrown back then and the line was still in use for occasional freight. Of course, no high vis jackets were worn. Don't try that at home, kids!
Great stuff Martin, I've walked along bits of this line over the years, not where you are by Deepdale station though. Where you are looking up on the east side of the bridge, the station was quite a big building directly on your left and the station entrance was at street level. Its all gone now but there are pics on google of when the building was still there, I remember as a kid going along there probably to the old Preston Royal Infirmary that was just up the road, the station entrance was derelict and bricked up by then. I came by many years later and sadly the whole lot had gone. Sad. Wish I'd gone back to explore 30 odd years ago! You can see traces still though of one of the doorways! Many thanks, very informative. God job you explored during the day and not by night, you may have encountered The Grey Lady at that point! Cheers!
OMG been down that Tunnel many a time as a kid lol was scary and probably still is but I got over it or should I say through it alive! Thanks for memories
Used to walk through miley tunnel all ti.e as a kid I lived in Deepdale my pals lived in Ashton so was quickest route cant believe the over grow on tracks wasnt like that 20 years ago 🤣🤣
Yet another interesting video. Quite a surprise to find the track hasn't been lifted. Can I ask - What's the source of the background music used at 10:26 on?
Its from a website I use , its a subscription to use their music. I actually cant remember the piece I would have to trawl back through. If I can I will use it again
Great videos Martin! On a less positive note, than the one I put on the Manchester's Lost Island of Pomona video, I attempted to get into The Miley Railway Tunnel today. I had the same bright idea as peebee143 and took some garden shears with me. After hacking my way through over 100 bramble branches etc. I got to the tunnel entrance to find the fence sealed up again! :-( Oh well, maybe somebody else will open it up again. If they do, people's transit in will be easier until the spring! Thanks for education me about things on my own doorstep that I didn't know about. Cheers! 4 days ago
Another great video, Martin - Well done. The survey targets in the tunnel wall look as if they were placed there to measure any tunnel wall movement/distortion. Judging by the extensive amount of rebricking of the crown of the tunnel, there have been ongoing stability problems in the area and if they are planning to open part of the tunnel for use, they want to be sure there is no significant movement still occurring. Another thought - the bricks are quite clean compared with the sections where the tunnel is fully masonry lined. Why no smoky deposits? Surely relining would have been done pre 1960s? Have you explored the line going in the other direction? Towards Grimsargh and the Whittingham Hospital (The largest mental hospital in England in its day)
Wiki says 1980 but I was born in ‘81 and I remember the coal train going past the level crossing on Skeffington road so it could back up and switch onto the coal yard track. Must have been upto to mid to late 80s. I remember seeing the train before school. Usually class 37s from memory
Extremely well done. That would be a great tour for the local schools. A way of giving back and letting the younger generation know a little bit of the history.
Another great film as always maps make it easier to follow. Looks like the section in the cutting with the supports had been cleared since Gordon's recce.
Martin back in 1998 i was a uni student at Preston UCLAN and some of the braver students had an explore in the tunnel. I wussed out and always wondered what id missed out on - so a very big thank you from me
I used to walk along the line to school (St John Southworth) if I'd missed the bus. As well as the tram idea, there was also talk of a cycle path. I think the last train would have stopped earlier than 1980 as the freight trains were only used to service Courthaulds. The plant closed in 1980, but it took a couple of years to decommission it.
So many videos . . . You must spend all your spare time researching Martin!, btw next time you do disused railway lines . . . take some small Secateurs with you!. Another fantastic video Martin, Thank you :)
I'm born and bred in Preston and I've always wanted to see inside the miley tunnel. Always meant to do it and never actually got round to it. Thanks guys, big smiles in Preston cha!
You missed a level crossing on skeffington road before the point you started from. It’s still got gates and rails across the road which is cool. I always park down there when I’m a Deepdale stadium
We go down from deapdale at Paul's road and come out at the back of where the uni is now late 70s early 80s shit myself every time as a kid good times😁
The music with the tunnel walk for me was an amazing match. Gave this video a real edge. It's so sad to see our historic railways and the infrastructure going to waste and being left to fill with rubbish. Thank you Martin for sharing 👍 and making a great piece of footage.
I've only lived in Preston for a couple of years and had worked out the route of this old line using Google maps, but I didn't realise that the track and tunnels are still under some of the current buildings.
Another fantastic video Martin, I am currently working at the Red Scar Works which as you rightly say was the old Courtaulds works which was once the largest Rayon Fabric producing factory in Britain. Only last week during some excavation work, some old rail lines were uncovered. Keep up the good work.
Many thanks Martin, another great video of local history. I particularly enjoyed seeing yard where the railway crossed the Lancaster Canal. I often wondered if the place where the Canal terminated was known as Preston North End !
The canal crossed Fylde rd on an aqueduct. the area was large enough that it had another major road - oddly enough named aqueduct st. If you walk north from aqueduct st you will find the current canal basin (check a map for access.). If you walk along Fylde rd looking south you will find a side grass strip heading south. this is the old canal, now filled in, heading towards the old canal basin.
Thanks Martin! as a Prestonian, I found that very interesting. I quite often use parts of the disused track, which is now a designated cycle / walking path from the back of the leisure centre going North. It is easy walking from the leisure centre as far as the 'Roman Way' industrial estate, from there it is less easy but 'do-able' [easier than in your video] as far as Grimsargh, where I think it peters out opposite 'The Plough' pub.
The Brambles are giving me flashbacks! I dealt with that stuff all the time when I did land surveying for a living. It was always a nightmare. I still have a few scars......
Superb this. Been fascinated with the line since late 80's as a train spotter on Preston station. Pretty sure Deepdale coal yard was in use to the mid 90's. Remember seeing class 56, 37 with one or two coal wagons regular. I work on the railways now and worked with a Blackburn driver until he retired. He recalled driving through the tunnel and hitting a dry brick wall the local youths had constructed
I grew up in the area at the end and remember the canal and a signal hut near where you were standing. There's so many beautiful bridges and disused lines around Preston. Also in that area was a metal weighing station that took trucks and they transferred their loads onto rail wagons. Was great fun to play round there. If you ever come back give me a shout. The canal story didn't end there and carried on to corporation street and a bigger story still, I think he is slightly off with his stone story where you were stood. It happened further up on corporation street where the canal ended in warehouses and more railway sidings and further back in time a tram track to the Leeds Liverpool canal across the ribble. .it's very rich in history. Take it easy. Also Mario is a great resource in the region. Maps and related information online,where you overlay current maps etc with 1940s and 60s aerial photos etc.
Thanks Martin. Amazing that the railway line is still there after all these years. When I look at these old tunnels and bridges I wonder at the workmanship that must have gone into their construction. Fascinating - as you say!
Great to see and hear you again Martin. Fantastic exploration. Might I suggest. Pair of gardening gloves Pair of secateurs A very big stick Petrol strimmer A prayer for safe passage Keep safe and dry
Grew up living in the old flats that where on moore lane in the 70’s,crazy as it sounds we use to play round there,miley tunnel was the challenge to show how brave us was,walking on your own no torch,at night,still remember it like yesterday walking the tracks to make sure you was going kinda straight,you knew when you wasn’t as you stubbed your toe on the tracks lol,all the time waiting for the blue lady to appear, fun times
I like the hi-vis. Best way of looking like you're supposed to be there.
Also to look like you work for NOTWORK RAIL simply stand around idle, chatting aimlessly
@@danielwilson6529 Sometimes things have to happen before other things can happen. Personnel expenses are low compared to delay costs.
Wonderful video Martin. I am Preston born and bred and as a kid you hadn't lived until you had done the Miley. My last jaunt through was in 1990 but had to make a quick exit because a coal train chased us out.. I will never forget seeing the Headcorn lights of the Class 37 and running like he'll to the safety of the embankment on Cold bath street.
When you work with Stone as I do you appreciate the skill & the craftsmanship of the men who crafted & built the magnificent Bridges & tunnels on both the railways & canals of Briton.Thank you Martin for a great video.
Thanks very much Christopher
Great work. I spent 3 years in Preston in the mid 90’s and must have walked over the top of the tunnel entrance on Fylde road 100’s of times without once bothering to take a look over the bridge. Amazing that these feats of engineering from an era when the North West of England literally was the epicenter of the industrial revolution lay forgotten and rotting away. I applaud your efforts and enthusiasm for reminding us about them in such an engaging way.
Thanks very much Stephan
Martin zero should become the next Fred dibnah with his own documentry all tho Thier subjects are different the way they go into such detail is exceptional ..... Well done Martin pal
Ha agreed....... he has a certain kind of character that just captures you. Just the love the honesty of his vids, not only that, a decent chap too! ;)
Not to decry what Martin does, which is excellent. Fred Dibnah walked the walk.
The videos of Fred were created about what he created, not what he observed.
@@garyhardman8369 Really? What did Fred Dibnah create? I thought he was a steeplejack with an interest in old mechanical engineering. Bit of a demolition boffin too wasn't he? I'm led to understand he repaired some stuff but certainly didn't create anything. Perhaps I'm wrong..?
@@sputumtube he created many things incuding his own mine shaft
@@sputumtube Fred did build 2 steam engines and a tiny mine shaft in his back yard but my comment was ment on his ability to grip an audience just like Martin but I agree with you in what your saying he was mainly a steeply that became famous due to his technique he used to fall the chimneys
i stumbled upon your channel yesterday evening and I've been watching your vids all day today. excellent work.
Thanks very much. Glad you found me
Neil - New York - grew up on Great Hanover Street - spent time wandering around the line. Loved the video, brought back lots of memories. Thanks Martin.
Thanks Neil
I'm a Preston lad over in Texas, love this video, well done great insight. Became a member too. Keep up the good work
Thank you very much
This is first rate work. Old railway lines and their infrastructure constitute one of the most fascinating aspects of industrial archaeology. Please keep us enthralled and entertained with these marvelous documentaries that remind us of another age when Britain was truly great.
Sir, you make such good video's that are so historically accurate and well documented that they could/should be used to teach kids in school about the history of where they live. Outstanding job Martin.
Thank you
Great to be back and in the groove of your wonderful videos ! I've been on the move for the last few months , so , I have some good viewing to catch up on ! thank you Martin for making it so worthwhile !!xx
Thanks Anne
I really enjoyed that video , thankyou Martin and your two pals. When you have people who really have a passion for what
they enjoy ,they pass on their knowledge in an understanding and enjoyable way ,.Well done guys and keepup the good
work , thanks again
Martin at the end says "That was absolutely fascinating" ..... and I am sure that we all agree. Thanks Martin.
Definitely
Completely agree!
You look good with those saftey helmets and very intelligent bunch of guys well done
I really find these railway videos interesting. I had no idea there used to be a line here.
On recent O/S Maps the Preston Longridge is shown as Railway (Disused) meaning the line still has tracks which your excellent video proves forty yrs after closure.
I remember as a lad with a few mates going through the Miley Tunnel sometime in the late 60's, as we walked through with a pathetic old torch, some of the lads were saying what happens if a train comes, I said "don't worry it is not used any more", needles to say we heard a noise and sure enough a train was coming very slowly behind us, we ran out terrified ahead of the train, luckily were not that far from the end, when we got out at the end closely followed by the train the driver was leaning out of his window playing holy hell at us to probably put us off going in again, he needn't have worried we were terrified enough already not to try again, another interesting fact is that the fire brigade still use the tunnel for training near Cold bath street, they practice lifting stretchers up out of the cutting part that you showed.
Thanks for the info Malcolm, great story 😀
Fascinating as ever Martin. Thanks for the education.
Fabulous video so much interesting detail and you guys really make it superb watching from the comforts of our homes whilst you get scratched by brambles and creeped out by the grey old lady tunnel ghost👍😉👍😉👍😉
I loved the videos it's a mix of interests like old lost and forgotten abandoned derelict places too
thanks very much Carl
very good video enjoyed this martin thank you mate you are a natural speaker and it works so well just discovered your vids here on you tube I shall now watch the lot good one mate PS....COOL SURNAME
Thank you very much 😎
Catching up on videos. Loved this, as j have been in another in Preston.
What a great find! An abandoned railway with intact track! Brilliant as usual, an enjoyable Sunday night fix 😊
Still catching up. Hello Martin and thank you for your intrepid rediscoveries, surely this would make a great walkway or cycle path if cleared, at least then the architecture would be visible, accessible and not lost to the ever increasing sub tropical change in our climate. We could even plant exotic fauna along the sides.
Well done as always. It's interesting just how much of our current rail network was built in the victorian times. It's equally interesting to get the chance to explore the sections that have become disused. I don't blame you for putting it off until the foliage has died off. In summer that would have been 10 times worse.
Massive potential and what a gem, the tunnel is in very good repair, I cannot believe the rails are still in place, it is substantial, wide and too valuable to be just abandoned. If this was south of Cheltenham it would have been exploited already!
Hi Martin you keep finding em and keep em coming. Find this Victorian railway engineering fascinating they certainly built things to last back then and with such pride in their work always a plate stating where and when it was built or manufactured. If only we took the same pride in our work today.
This is so cool. When I was a kid growing up in Preston in the 80s my friends and I used to dare each other to go through Miley Railway Tunnel on our own with no light or anything. Of course none of us ever did haha. Probably down to urban legends circulating at the time about dismembered bodies and the bogeyman. Good times. Thanks for the video very interesting.
I love railway history like this that was amazing i hope that infrastructure gets a new lease of life thats PRICELESS railway infrastructure there it still exists and is in place it should be used again for what it was intended for!
Amazing video!
I'm glad you walked this line Martin. There aren't many left with the track down and it can only be a matter of time until it is all swept away and redeveloped. The best 'find' on this video is 'Dallam forge' cast plate on the bridge. brilliant!
John Eyres supposed to be a tram line. Preston has the actual trams just stored away for future use. Had them years
Great upload lads, thanks for taking the interest and sharing. As a kid I remember being in the signal box at Skeffington Road crossing and watching a class 40 pass on a coal working to Courtaulds Red Scar works...
joe sprinter are you a deepdale boy?
@@chrisfinchgolf199 Not Deepdale but close by. Spent a lot of time in the Preston area train spotting in the late 60's and early 70's.
No matter where we go in the world train history is so cool, but in your country there is so much more as it was England that started everything train related, AWESOME 😎
Thank you Pippa
I live in Lorraine in France and, after watching this, I want to do videos of 2 abandoned sections of canal and a railway line near where I live. The railway line has an incredible story as it changed hands between France and Germany during the 1880s and 1918 and gave rise to a new town. I've been a railway enthusiast for over 50 years and I love exploring old lines. I hope to see more of your videos.
Thank you, hope you make your video
Absolutely fantastic video Martin. Once again the choice of music and the historical narration makes your films a joy to watch. I always feel like i have learned something new. A wonderful bit of editing completes the video. So love to watch your videos. Thank you once again Martin.
Thank you very much
I really appreciate your efforts and enthusiasm for these videos, you really would make a great TV presenter. I would definitely watch.
Really enjoyed the video! It's a privilege to see history brought to life with all the details and adventure.
Interesting video and content exploring the Miley tunnel. Perhaps also of interest are some additional snippets. first, this part of the line continued in use well into the 1950s to supply coal daily to yards located nearby bottom end of Deepdale Road, in Fletcher Road. This was achieved using a spur line nearby Skeffington Road. Next, the lower platform part of Deepdale Station shown as demolished ruins in the video was still in place in the 1950s, indeed with steps down, although correctly described as long disused. However, the main station building up top remains and is the stand alone solicitor's office by side of the bridge. Finally, the Miley Tunnel ghost sort of morphed into a New York Times best selling novel called "Cold Bath Street" by A J Hartley, sometime lecturer at nearby UCLAN. Cold Bath Street remains nearby, once site of cleaning up for the construction workers.
Superb video. Thanks to the guys for their help and assistance. Very interesting history. Great architecture.
Thanks for another interesting video. Coal trains were still running through Miley tunnel to the Household Coal depot at Deepdale until the mid 1990's.
Manorm2003 i remember seeing the trains cross skeffington road level crossing during the 80s
Always good to see a photo of the old Preston Town Hall, a tragedy that it is no longer there.
I was suprised to see the trackbed still intact. You would have thought the pikeys would have had that years ago!
John Dufton : Govt grabbing, BR track to ££, or simply pikey pikeys ¿?
Its gone
It used to have a massive black cable on the wall aswell but that obviously went before the track.
Fantastic Martin, you serve me prowd once again. Fascinating little stretch of railway, like i commented in Nodrod's video, it would be great if this alignment could be brought back into use. The tunnel was fascinating with that concrete ceiling placed over the original cutting between the 2 sections. I can only imagine how much weight is bearing down on those beams.
Martin , yet another quality production - well done ............. keep e'm coming .
Thanks Colin
Nice one Martin (and Gordon). Good to see you exploring my neck of woods just around the corner from where I lived as a kid. I remember the old station building on Deepdale Road well, and the entrance was used as a greengrocers shop back then in the 1950's (which one of your photos shows I think). I had a mate who lived on Castleton road, and his backyard was almost opposite the station platform and overlooked it. We used to watch steam trains go past from there on their way to Courtaulds (or to the coal sidings which were on Fletcher Road). The end of the canal terminated after it passed under Marsh Lane (the iron railings of the bridge are still visible I think). I remember looking down on the canal as a kid and seeing the railway lines running beside it, but it was already looking dilapidated at that point. You'll perhaps know that there used to be a tramway linking the end of the Lancaster canal, to the Walton Summit branch of the Leeds and Liverpool canal. This was a cheaper option than joining the two canals as was originally planned. Keep up the good work!
That's why it's called Tram Bridge in Avenham Park. There used to be a steam engine at the park end to move the trams through what we used to call Bluebell Wood on the other side of the river.
Love seeing old railway relics. It’s always an adventure exploring
Your videos are getting better and better thank you from NZ
Yet another good one Martin thanks for explaining about the arches in the tunnel
Great background music at the beginning . Great clip overall!
Thanks very much
Great video as always! I briefly lived in a student house in 1990, that backed onto that line near the tunnel entrance on the Deepdale end of the tunnel. I'm sure I remember hearing big diesels come thundering down that line every so often.
A very beautiful video well done mate keep up the great work and I cant wait to listen to the next video
Thanks very much
@@MartinZero you are most welcome mate
well that was fantastic thank you all so much we loved it and thanks the the grey lady it looks like a fun time out for you all cheers from trev and christine down south x
Hi Martin
Gordon form Preston. And not your fellow exploring Gordon. You was correct in thinking it closed in mid eighties, because I was stood on the platform of one of the stations as a little boy watching them load up platform stones and rails as the took them up, a class 25, I live fight next to one station that still remains, and if you are free at somepoint would love to invite you for a very detailed tour of the eastern direction of the line. I've lived there since 1975. And so lhe line open and working, you was also correct, there was steps down to Deepdale station that served Preston royal infirmary, and before miley tunel used to be a big coal yard with multiple sideing with over head hopper sheds. If you up for a part two. Let me know, fantastic video, so close to home, great job once again, thanks pal 👍
Thank you Martin. Another walk down history and memories. Amazed the rails were still left and not scrapped.
It seems that lines that closed in the 80s/90s didn't have the rails taken up. in the 60s, it was done on purpose to make reopening in the future more difficult because the corrupt transport minister at the time had a road building company.
@@simontay4851 Thank you Simon for that.
Dear Martin, you never fail to impress, educate and entertain! You make Sundays so special! Dont be afraid, your charming enough that the lady wont bother you :) Thank you Martin as always. Love from Peru
Thank you for another adventure I love old train tunnels like that see over here we don't have the pleasure of having them they barium soon as they're done with them the clap some down it's good to see that they still keep this love you videos keep mop I'll keep watching
Unusual to still see track in situ.Great Video as usual Martin.
Before I was thrown out of Preston Poly, a friend and I used to conduct guided walks through the Miley Tunnel. Fascinating to find out how that central box came about. On walks after dark, we would turn our torches off at this point and experienced absolute darkness. It wasn't overgrown back then and the line was still in use for occasional freight. Of course, no high vis jackets were worn.
Don't try that at home, kids!
Never wanted to go to Preston. Until now. Well done making yet another exploration.
Great stuff Martin, I've walked along bits of this line over the years, not where you are by Deepdale station though. Where you are looking up on the east side of the bridge, the station was quite a big building directly on your left and the station entrance was at street level. Its all gone now but there are pics on google of when the building was still there, I remember as a kid going along there probably to the old Preston Royal Infirmary that was just up the road, the station entrance was derelict and bricked up by then. I came by many years later and sadly the whole lot had gone. Sad. Wish I'd gone back to explore 30 odd years ago! You can see traces still though of one of the doorways! Many thanks, very informative. God job you explored during the day and not by night, you may have encountered The Grey Lady at that point! Cheers!
OMG been down that Tunnel many a time as a kid lol was scary and probably still is but I got over it or should I say through it alive! Thanks for memories
As ever, fascinating! Thank you.
Thanks Glen
Used to walk through miley tunnel all ti.e as a kid I lived in Deepdale my pals lived in Ashton so was quickest route cant believe the over grow on tracks wasnt like that 20 years ago 🤣🤣
Yet another interesting video. Quite a surprise to find the track hasn't been lifted.
Can I ask - What's the source of the background music used at 10:26 on?
Its from a website I use , its a subscription to use their music. I actually cant remember the piece I would have to trawl back through. If I can I will use it again
@@MartinZero Many thanks for the reply 😀
Great videos Martin! On a less positive note, than the one I put on the Manchester's Lost Island of Pomona video, I attempted to get into The Miley Railway Tunnel today. I had the same bright idea as
peebee143 and took some garden shears with me. After hacking my way through over 100 bramble branches etc. I got to the tunnel entrance to find the fence sealed up again! :-( Oh well, maybe somebody else will open it up again. If they do, people's transit in will be easier until the spring! Thanks for education me about things on my own doorstep that I didn't know about. Cheers!
4 days ago
Another great video, Martin - Well done. The survey targets in the tunnel wall look as if they were placed there to measure any tunnel wall movement/distortion. Judging by the extensive amount of rebricking of the crown of the tunnel, there have been ongoing stability problems in the area and if they are planning to open part of the tunnel for use, they want to be sure there is no significant movement still occurring. Another thought - the bricks are quite clean compared with the sections where the tunnel is fully masonry lined. Why no smoky deposits? Surely relining would have been done pre 1960s? Have you explored the line going in the other direction? Towards Grimsargh and the Whittingham Hospital (The largest mental hospital in England in its day)
Thanks very much for the info
Wiki says 1980 but I was born in ‘81 and I remember the coal train going past the level crossing on Skeffington road so it could back up and switch onto the coal yard track. Must have been upto to mid to late 80s. I remember seeing the train before school. Usually class 37s from memory
Extremely well done. That would be a great tour for the local schools. A way of giving back and letting the younger generation know a little bit of the history.
The nostalgia at times is overwhelming. Hey Martin....
I love history Thumbs up 👍 from Pakistan 🇵🇰
Another great film as always maps make it easier to follow. Looks like the section in the cutting with the supports had been cleared since Gordon's recce.
You gotta like how the productions are getting better and better
I live near Preston and work in Manchester, it don’t get better than this......
Martin back in 1998 i was a uni student at Preston UCLAN and some of the braver students had an explore in the tunnel. I wussed out and always wondered what id missed out on - so a very big thank you from me
Another great video, Martin. Thanks for bringing these to us every week. They're a treasure.
I used to walk along the line to school (St John Southworth) if I'd missed the bus. As well as the tram idea, there was also talk of a cycle path. I think the last train would have stopped earlier than 1980 as the freight trains were only used to service Courthaulds. The plant closed in 1980, but it took a couple of years to decommission it.
Picture of a Class 37 with a working from the Deepdale coal depot in 1987 see my comment above
the masonry work just amazing, and the grey lady yep got me a bit too lol
So many videos . . . You must spend all your spare time researching Martin!, btw next time you do disused railway lines . . . take some small Secateurs with you!. Another fantastic video Martin, Thank you :)
Cheers Carl
I'm born and bred in Preston and I've always wanted to see inside the miley tunnel. Always meant to do it and never actually got round to it. Thanks guys, big smiles in Preston cha!
Thanks very much Paul
I've got another one in Preston that you can do, I'd love to join the video if possible
Great Video and thanks , I love the history and the workmanship that went into these old structures . :-)
You missed a level crossing on skeffington road before the point you started from. It’s still got gates and rails across the road which is cool. I always park down there when I’m a Deepdale stadium
Great video, good to see you team up with Nodrog👍
Yeah good laugh 👍
We go down from deapdale at Paul's road and come out at the back of where the uni is now late 70s early 80s shit myself every time as a kid good times😁
The music with the tunnel walk for me was an amazing match. Gave this video a real edge. It's so sad to see our historic railways and the infrastructure going to waste and being left to fill with rubbish. Thank you Martin for sharing 👍 and making a great piece of footage.
Thanks very much Matty
Brill - Perfect timing. 38 minutes of interesting Railway history. Thank you very much Martin...
Thanks very much
I always wonder if these closed lines could have a rail use in future.
Possibly Hans
I've only lived in Preston for a couple of years and had worked out the route of this old line using Google maps, but I didn't realise that the track and tunnels are still under some of the current buildings.
Another fantastic video Martin, I am currently working at the Red Scar Works which as you rightly say was the old Courtaulds works which was once the largest Rayon Fabric producing factory in Britain. Only last week during some excavation work, some old rail lines were uncovered. Keep up the good work.
Looked like a great explore gents.
Many thanks Martin, another great video of local history. I particularly enjoyed seeing yard where the railway crossed the Lancaster Canal. I often wondered if the place where the Canal terminated was known as Preston North End !
The canal crossed Fylde rd on an aqueduct. the area was large enough that it had another major road - oddly enough named aqueduct st. If you walk north from aqueduct st you will find the current canal basin (check a map for access.). If you walk along Fylde rd looking south you will find a side grass strip heading south. this is the old canal, now filled in, heading towards the old canal basin.
This is a very special channel with very special content. Thanks for doing what you do Martin.
Thanks Martin! as a Prestonian, I found that very interesting.
I quite often use parts of the disused track, which is now a designated cycle / walking path from the back of the leisure centre going North. It is easy walking from the leisure centre as far as the 'Roman Way' industrial estate, from there it is less easy but 'do-able' [easier than in your video] as far as Grimsargh, where I think it peters out opposite 'The Plough' pub.
The Brambles are giving me flashbacks! I dealt with that stuff all the time when I did land surveying for a living. It was always a nightmare. I still have a few scars......
Superb this. Been fascinated with the line since late 80's as a train spotter on Preston station.
Pretty sure Deepdale coal yard was in use to the mid 90's. Remember seeing class 56, 37 with one or two coal wagons regular.
I work on the railways now and worked with a Blackburn driver until he retired. He recalled driving through the tunnel and hitting a dry brick wall the local youths had constructed
I grew up in the area at the end and remember the canal and a signal hut near where you were standing. There's so many beautiful bridges and disused lines around Preston. Also in that area was a metal weighing station that took trucks and they transferred their loads onto rail wagons. Was great fun to play round there. If you ever come back give me a shout. The canal story didn't end there and carried on to corporation street and a bigger story still, I think he is slightly off with his stone story where you were stood. It happened further up on corporation street where the canal ended in warehouses and more railway sidings and further back in time a tram track to the Leeds Liverpool canal across the ribble. .it's very rich in history. Take it easy. Also Mario is a great resource in the region. Maps and related information online,where you overlay current maps etc with 1940s and 60s aerial photos etc.
Thanks Martin. Amazing that the railway line is still there after all these years. When I look at these old tunnels and bridges I wonder at the workmanship that must have gone into their construction. Fascinating - as you say!
Great to see and hear you again Martin.
Fantastic exploration.
Might I suggest.
Pair of gardening gloves
Pair of secateurs
A very big stick
Petrol strimmer
A prayer for safe passage
Keep safe and dry
It’s that time of the week again. Marvellous!!!! 👌
Your videos are amazing, would love to get out my self and videos stuff, much come back to Yorkshire and the north
Regards
Jamie
Thanks very much Jamie
You're right Martin, You do appreciate things more as you get older. Thanks marra keep it up